Sol–gel preparation and properties of hydroxypropylcellulose–titania hybrid thin films

Hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC)–titania hybrid thin films were prepared by sol–gel method where titanium tetraisopropoxide Ti(OC₃H₇ ⁱ )₄ was hydrolyzed under acidic conditions in the presence of HPC, followed by dip-coating and drying at 120 °C for 24 h. The viscosity average molecular weight of HPC was 55,000–70,000 or 110,000–150,000, and the TiO₂/(HPC + TiO₂) mass ratio ranged from 0 to 1, which was calculated on the assumption that all Ti(OC₃H₇ ⁱ )₄ is converted into TiO₂. The films were 0.35–1.0 μm thick, transparent in visible region and opaque in ultraviolet (UV) region, where the optical absorption coefficient in UV region increased with increasing titania content. The refractive index increased with increasing titania content, ranging from 1.6 to 1.8 for the hybrid thin films. The pencil hardness increased from 6B to 5H, the durability in hot water significantly increased and the contact angle of water on films increased from 35° to 89° with increasing titania content. Crack-free films could be deposited on organic polymer substrates irrespective of titania or HPC contents, where cracking did not occur at higher HPC contents even when the substrate was bent.     

Errors involved in the activation energy calculated by integral methods when the frequency factor depends on the temperature ( A = A 0 T m)

The dependence of the frequency factor on the temperature (A=A ₀ T ^m) has been examined and the errors involved in the activation energy calculated from some integral methods without considering such dependence have been estimated. Investigated integral methods are the Coats-Redfern method, the Gorbachev-Lee-Beck method, the Wanjun-Yuwen method and the Junmeng-Fusheng method. The results have shown that the error in the determination of the activation energy calculated ignoring the dependence of the frequency factor on the temperature can be rather large and it is dependent on x=E/RT and the exponent m.     

Catalytic Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry of Germanium(IV) in the Presence of Gallic Acid and Vanadium(IV)‐EDTA

A highly sensitive and selective catalytic adsorptive cathodic striping procedure for the determination of trace germanium is presented. The method is based on adsorptive accumulation of the Ge(IV)‐gallic acid (GA) complex onto a hanging mercury drop electrode, followed by reduction of the adsorbed species. The reduction current is enhanced catalytically by addition of vanadium(IV)‐EDTA. The optimal experimental conditions include the use of 0.03 mol/L HClO₄ (pH1.6), 6.0×10^?3 mol/L GA, 3.0×10^?3 mol/L V(IV), 4.0×10^?3 mol/L EDTA, an accumulation potential of ?0.10 V(vs. Ag/AgCl), an accumulation time of 120 s and a differential pulse potential scan mode. The peak current is proportional to the concentration of Ge(IV) over the range of 3.0×10^?11 to 1.0×10^?8 mol/L and the detection limit is 2×10^?11 mol/L for a 120 s adsorption time. The relative standard deviation at 5.0×10^?10 mol/L level is 3.1%. No serious interferences were found. The method was applied to the determination of germanium in ore, mineral water and vegetable samples with satisfactory results.     

Influence of the cathodic polarization on the stability of Ti surface in concentrated KOH solutions

The stability of spontaneous thin layers and thin layers formed upon cathodical polarization of Ti in KOH solutions have been studied by potentiostatic and ellipsometric methods. At open circuit potential (OCP) the strongly adherent films, whose thickness depends on the concentration of the KOH solution, were formed. During the cathodic polarization the transformation of these films to weakly adsorbed precipitated layers on the electrode surface was observed. Comparing the theoretically computed curves with the experimental Ψ vs Δ loci measured ellipsometrically, the complex indices of refraction and the thickness of the generated films, from 3.6 to 60 nm in 1 M KOH and from 36 to 105 nm in 5 M KOH (adherent to the electrode surface), were determined. At OCP the rate of film growth increases with increasing the concentration of KOH solution. Cathodic polarizations change the chemical composition and retard the rate of film growth. Based on the ellipsometric and electrochemical data the chemical compositions of the formed films consisted of TiO₂, Ti₂O₃, TiO₂·H₂O, Ti(OH)₃ and TiOOH·nH₂O.     

Fuzzy Symmetries for Linear Molecules and their Molecular Orbitals

In this paper, the fuzzy symmetry of some prototypical linear molecules has been analyzed. The results show that some molecular orbitals (MOs) are less symmetrical but some others are more symmetrical than the molecular skeleton, which the MOs correspond to. The membership functions of space inversion for MOs are closely related to the chemical characteristics of the MOs. Sometimes, although the symmetry of a molecular skeleton is not obvious, however that of some MO is quite obvious. The membership functions of the fuzzy inversion symmetry depend on the choice of the position of the center of inversion. As compared to those of diatomic molecules and linear tri-atomic molecules, the linear polyatomic molecules in which a distinctive fuzzy symmetry of space translation may exist, and thus a significant effect on their properties can be expected.     

Synthesis and characterization of microencapsulated dicyclopentadiene with melamine–formaldehyde resins

Microcapsules containing healing agents have been used to develop the self-healing polymeric composites. These microcapsules must possess special properties such as appropriate strength and stability in surrounding medium. A new series of microcapsules containing dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) with melamine–formaldehyde (MF) resin as shell material were synthesized by in situ polymerization technology. These microcapsules may satisfy the requirements for self-healing polymeric composites. The chemical structure of microcapsule was identified by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer. The morphology of microcapsule was observed by using optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscope. Size distribution and mean diameter of microcapsules were determined with OM. The thermal properties of microcapsules were investigated by using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. Additionally, the self-healing efficiency was evaluated. The results indicate that the poly(melamine–formaldehyde) (PMF) microcapsules containing DCPD have been synthesized successfully, and their mean diameters fall in the range of 65.2∼202.0 μm when the adjusting agitation rate varies from 150 to 500 rpm. Increasing the surfactant concentration can decrease the diameters of microcapsules. The prepared microcapsules are thermally stable up to 69 °C. The PMF microcapsules containing DCPD can be applied to polymeric composites to fabricate the self-healing composites.     

Synthesis,crystal structure,electrochemical properties and large optical limiting effect of a novel 3-(E)-ferrocenyl-vinyl-<Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">N</Emphasis>-hexyl carbazole

The novel compound, 3-(E)-ferrocenyl-vinyl-N-hexylcarbazole (FVHC) was first synthesized and fully characterized by elemental analysis, IR, ¹H-NMR, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet (UV) absorption, cyclic voltammograms (CV) and optical limiting (OL) measurements. The result of single crystal X-ray diffraction for the compound reveals that the ferrocenyl and carbazole groups are approximately coplanar, and bridged by double-bond with E configuration, showing that there is a well-delocalized π-electron system in the molecule. The electrochemical investigation indicated that the electron in the FVHC may partially be delocalized over the π-conjugated system and CT process in functionalized carbazole systems. Besides, the compound exhibited strong UV absorption and large optical limiting effect, indicating promising potential applications as useful OL materials.     

Yb2O3对TiO2/(O''+β'')-Sialon复相陶瓷中TiO2相变的影响

以纳米锐钛矿型TiO2粉和（O＇＋β＇）-Sialon粉为原料制备出了TiO2／（O＇＋β＇）-Sialon复相陶瓷，研究了Yb2O3添加剂对材料中锐钛矿型TiO2相变的影响，对其影响机制进行了探讨。采用XRD对材料进行物相组成和晶格参数表征。结果表明，Yb2O3对锐钛矿相变开始温度无明显影响，但对相变有显著的促进作用，随添加量的增加，其作用逐渐减弱。添加的Yb2O3同时以两种形式存在：一部分进入TiO2晶格，一部分堆积在TiO2晶粒表面。Yb^n＋进入TiO2晶格置换Ti^4＋和Yb^3＋与TiO2发生氧化还原反应促进相变，而存在于TiO2表面的Yb^3＋与TiO2相互作用形成Ti-O-Yb键而抑制相变。Yb2O3对锐钛矿相变的影响是这两方面机制共同作用的结果。     

二甲苯在AlPO4-5分子筛中吸附的分子模拟研究

采用巨正则蒙特卡罗法(GCMC)研究了二甲苯异构体在AlPO4-5中的吸附，得到了有关吸附平衡常数、吸附热、吸附等温线及吸附位等信息．结果表明，在303K时，邻二甲苯的吸附量高于其它异构体；而在523和573K时，对二甲苯的吸附量最高．低吸附量时二甲苯的平均势能基本不发生变化，而高吸附量时二甲苯的平均势能随着吸附量增加而降低，尤其邻二甲苯的平均势能变化更加明显．由此对二甲苯各异构体在AlPO4-5中的吸附量差别以及它们在分子筛中的排列方式进行了讨论．     

Carbon nanotube array-based biosensor

Aligned multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNT) grown on platinum substrate are used for the development of an amperometric biosensor. The opening and functionalization by oxidation of the nanotube array allows for the efficient immobilization of the model enzyme, glucose oxidase. The carboxylated open-ends of nanotubes are used for the immobilization of the enzymes, while the platinum substrate provides the direct transduction platform for signal monitoring. It is also shown that carbon nanotubes can play a dual role, both as immobilization matrices and as mediators, allowing for the development of a third generation of biosensor systems, with good overall analytical characteristics.